1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of thermal energy storage (TES) apparatus and methods for use in refrigeration and air conditioning systems. This invention pertains to an apparatus for economical and efficient heat transfer to and from the thermal energy storage media.
2. Prior Art
In several regions of the US, domestic and commercial air-conditioning are substantial contributors to peak electrical loads. Because these peak loads often exceed the local electrical utilities baseline generating capacity, the utilities must use less efficient generation systems (e.g., gas turbine powered) to provide power at the peak times. This situation has convinced the electrical utilities and operators of many large commercial air-conditioning systems to install TES systems that utilize the lower cost electrical power available at night to store cooling capacity for use during the daytime. These large TES installations take advantage of economics of scale, and utilize systems that are efficient and economical in large systems but are not applicable to the smaller air-conditioning systems used for domestic cooling. This invention provides an economical and efficient TES apparatus for use in the smaller (typically domestic) air-conditioning systems, which are also substantial contributors to the peak daytime electrical demand.
Currently there are no generally accepted methods for using thermal energy storage in small (e.g., .about.3 ton domestic) air-conditioning systems, This is in part due to the lack of a thermally efficient, simple, reliable, and low cost method or apparatus for transferring heat in and out of a low cost thermal energy storage media.